Digital image processing as a tool for pavement distress evaluation

Abstract

The information obtained through accurate condition assessment of pavement surface distress data is needed as an essential input to any decision making process concerning pavement management policy. At the same time technological advances in automated inspection systems provide the opportunity to automate the collection and evaluation of the pavement surface condition. In this paper a method developed jointly by the Laboratories of Highway Engineering and Photogrammetry of the National Technical University of Athens is described and proposed. The method involves digital image processing techniques to provide suitable digital imagery as input to specialised software developed especially for this project. This software determines objectively and fully automatically the type, the extent and the severity of surface crackings for flexible road pavements. The proposed method presenten substantial agreement, when compared with systematic visual ratings of existing pavement crackings carried out according to the internationally accepted requirements for airfield and road pavement of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).